64th National Film Awards: Suriya’s 24 wins three awards, actor has a special messagehttps://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/tamil/64th-national-film-awards-suriya-24-wins-three-awards-actor-has-a-special-message-4603971/

Actor Suriya is on cloud nine after his sci-fi film 24 won three awards at the 64th National Film Awards. The winners of the coveted awards were announced by the Directorate of Film Festivals on Friday. “Firstly, my hearty congratulations to all the National Award winners. Director Vikram Kumar, 2D Entertainment and I, are very excited to hear this news,” he said in a video message posted on his Twitter page.

24, which is touted to be Suriya’s most ambitious project till date, bagged awards in three categories. Art director duo Amit Subrata won the award for best production design while cameraman Thiru won the award for best cinematography. The film also bagged the award for best visual effects.

“I thank entire National Awards jury members for thinking that their work is worthy of this award. 24 was an ambitious film for us like AR Rahman said. I consider these awards as a recognition for all the grand creations of Thiru and Amit Subrata that they have done so far,” he said.

“It is very encouraging when a film like 24, which is close to our hearts, gets national recognition. Definitely, we would want to give more such heartfelt projects,” he added.

Although Suriya does formulaic films to remain a power to be reckoned with at the south Indian box office, he also delivers films with strong performances and high-concept stories. The film 24 was one such attempt, which dealt with the subject of time travel.

24 is the story of a watch that allows its owner to travel back and forth in time. Suriya had played a triple role in the film, including a scientist, and his megalomaniac twin brother. The sci-fi film was written and directed by Vikram Kumar and had Samantha as the female lead while Nithya Menen also played a key role. Academy Award winner AR Rahman has scored music for the film, which was bankrolled by Suriya’s home production banner 2D Entertainment.

The film, which was said to be made at a budget of Rs 70 crore, raked in more than Rs 100 crore at the box office.